


Drowning in You

by leonheart2012



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is the world's best wingwoman, College AU, Cute, Drinking, Hunk being an angel, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nothing explicit, Pidge is female leaning non-binary, Proposals, hangovers, surprisingly everyone's pretty much in-character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 11:32:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18777427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leonheart2012/pseuds/leonheart2012
Summary: Keith is pining after Lance, Lance is pining after Keith. Now that they're in university, they can drink, which may not be a good thing, because Keith is constantly trying to get drunk enough to forget his crush on Lance - or at least get to lean on him as they go home. Lance allows this to happen because he wants to make Keith jealous...but how is that ever going to work when the only other people he finds attractive are women?Luckily, he bumps into Allura, who has her heart set on fixing the relationship troubles of all her friends.





	Drowning in You

Keith downed another shot of...what was it he was drinking again? He looked over at Lance, who was dancing close and personal with a pretty girl, grimaced, then ordered another.

“Lovesick, honey?” The bartender asked as she poured the shot. “Don’t worry. Someone else’ll come along.”

“No. No one else will ever be like him.” He downed the shot and asked for another.

She shook her head sadly. “Look, I know how much rejection can hurt, love, but drowning it in alcohol isn’t the best idea. Besides, I have a rule that you can only have five shots every half hour, and you’ve already expended that quota. Go out and find someone to dance with for a song or two. Talk to someone. But you’ll not get another drink for at least fifteen minutes.”

“Actually, I’m not really trying to bury my problems under alcohol. It’s just...last time I was drunk enough to not be able to walk home, Lance carried me. So I’m just hoping I get drunk enough for his arm to be around me again.”

She sighed and snatched the empty shot glass from in front of him, pouring another half-shot despite her rules. Keith drank it down without even tasting it. “Have you told him how you feel?”

“I...” He stared at the shot glass for a few moments, because he honestly couldn’t remember. “Probably not.”

“Go out there and ask him to dance with you. Although...maybe you should get a little less drunk first.” She handed him a glass of cold water. “Here.”

As Keith sipped at the water, he felt waves of nausea begin to crash against him, then tiredness hit him like a truck. He slumped forward onto the bar and closed his eyes for a minute.

 

Lance finished dancing with the girl, then looked around for someone else to dance with. She’d been pretty – blonde hair and heavily make-up-ed eyes – but she wasn’t exactly Lance’s type. Lance’s type was sitting at the bar, flirting with the bartender while he got too drunk to stand again.

He was getting worried about him. Keith was more and more broody lately, morosely moping around the apartment they shared with Hunk and generally just being a black cloud over the building. Even the neighbours had reported feeling gloomy, although that may have been more to do with the fact that end-of-semester exams were coming up.

As his eyes rested on Keith, he saw him down yet another shot, and his heart sank. He knew he should probably stop him from coming, but if his current mission of trying to make him jealous was to work, Keith needed to be present to witness how much _fun_ he was having with these cute girls.

Speaking of fun…

A dark skinned girl with bleached white hair and slightly pointed ears drifted past him, on her way to the bathrooms. He kept an eye out for her while he scanned the rest of the crowd.

“Hey sexy,” he said as she walked past again, “care for a dance?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’d rather not, thanks.” She made to stride past, but he gripped her shoulder lightly.

“Not even one dance? It is the toll for passing such a handsome young man.”

The girl, who Lance now saw was actually a young woman, looked around as if surprised. “Really? A handsome young man? Well, if you see one, be sure to point him out to me.” With that, she broke away from his grip, a slightly startled look flitting across her face, then walked away.

Lance sighed and went back to looking for someone to dance with, all while he watched Keith, who was slumped over the bar and breathing steadily, from the corner of his eye.

 

 _His grip...it was so light._ Allura thought, still reeling a little from the shock of such a...polite?...young man. She looked back at him.

_Maybe he is a little cute…_

She shook her head. She wasn’t here for love, or even dancing. She was here to support her friend Romelle through her most recent, terrible break-up with her – admittedly very hot – ex, Lotor.

When she got back to the table, she was nose-deep in a glass filled with a mix of alcohols that was probably going to get her very sick later that night.

“Romelle, come on.” Allura said, trying to gently pry the glass away from her hands. “Let’s dance.”

Romelle moaned and gripped the glass even more tightly. “No...Allura, this glass is the only thing that’s stopping me from going back to him.” She sighed dramatically, although if Allura was being honest, it wasn’t all that dramatic given the circumstances. “I mean, I know he was abusing me, but...I feel like we just hit a rough patch, like...he’s still in my head, Allura. Still calling me back.”

“I know it isn’t easy, but you’ve really got to stop drinking. Come on, I just saw a cute boy who will certainly be interested in taking your mind off him...”

 

When Keith woke up from his power-nap, his head was pounding, but at least his room was blessedly quiet.

Wait...his room?

He groaned and rolled over. He got exactly what he wanted, but he hadn’t been conscious for it. A light knock on his door made his headache spike viciously.

“What?” He moaned, even his own voice painful to his dehydrated brain.

Hunk pushed the door open with a sympathetic look on his face. “Sorry, but you have class in an hour, so you need to sober up, Keith. Come on, sit up and eat something.”

Keith’s stomach roiled at the mention of food. “I don’t think I can, Hunk.”

“Feel like you’re gonna be sick again?” He sighed when Keith nodded. “Need help getting to the bathroom?”

“Mm...yeah. Where’s Lance?”

Hunk put down the food and wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders, lifting him up with ease. “He left for his own classes about an hour ago.” He pushed the door to the bathroom open and helped him kneel next to the toilet. “You should just tell him, you know?”

Keith groaned again as he retched into the toilet, nothing coming up.

Footsteps padded around the apartment, and then Hunk was at his side again, water in hand. “Here, at least drink something.”

He took the water and downed it, eyes slipping closed. “Thanks, Hunk.”

Hunk placed his hand between Keith’s shoulder blades. “That’s alright, buddy.”

 

“Classes are so boring around this time of year.”

Pidge frowned at him. “You say that every day, Lance. Just stop whining and do it. It’ll go by a lot faster than you think it will.”

Lance flopped onto the table. “You always say that.”

They rolled their eyes. “And you never take my advice, so I don’t know why I bother. Would it help if I offered you ice cream in exchange for you doing it?”

“No.” Lance moaned. “You know what I want.”

“Yeah, and you have to just do _that_ too. How do you know he doesn’t like you if you don’t ask him?”

“I just...he _won’t_ , and it’ll make living with him awkward, and...hey, if I do this homework, will you come get a drink with me? I think I need to be drunk.”

Pidge threw their head back and sighed. “Alright, fine. Whatever. Just do your damn homework, and then we’ll go out and get a bottle of whatever you want. Just don’t get drunk alone in a bar.”

“But why not come to the bar _with me_?” Lance pressed.

“No. You know I hate bars. Come on, just take the offer, Lance. It’s not gonna get any better.”

 

Allura’s eyes flicked over to Romelle. Lotor had taken the opportunity to drop in and beg for her to come back and, like always, she was fawning over him, laughing at his bad jokes and flirting back with him. They’d been through this at least four times at this point.

Romelle was smart enough to know that Lotor was abusing her, but she wasn’t strong enough to fully separate. _She needs a holiday, some serious time away from him, so she can find someone else._

_Yeah, until she comes back and Lotor worms his way back in._

She sighed and turned back to her own work. She just wished there was something she could do. It wasn’t exactly something she could involve the police in – he never hit her, just took all her money and cheated on her while getting endlessly jealous if she had any quality time with another male. It didn’t help that she was in a high-paying job; it just made her a better prize in Lotor’s eyes.

Allura had, once upon a time, been charmed by him. That didn’t work anymore. Now that she’d seen what Lotor was capable of, all attraction had dried up.

Her mind wandered back to that boy she’d seen in the club. His hand had been so gentle on her arm, his eyes soft...maybe the demeanour would also soften if she got to know him?

He’d given her his number after dancing with Romelle last night, winking and telling her to call. She’d rolled her eyes at the time, but maybe…

The shop door swung open, and Romelle pushed Lotor into the back room before the customer could see him. Allura schooled her expression into a smile, and proceeded to serve someone who looked vaguely familiar.

 

Matt looked over the books of colour swatches and flower arrangements the two women had spread across the table.

“Hmm...I think he’d probably prefer the black and white motif. He’s really very formal.”

“So what’s the event for? A birthday?”

“Uh...more like our anniversary. We’ve been dating for five years now, and I...” He felt his cheeks flush. “I want to propose.”

The two ladies practically screeched in excitement. “Oh! How wonderful!” The blonde one said, beaming. “Well, we’ll do everything we can to make it an event to remember! Do you want us to find and hire a photographer, or would you be more comfortable doing that yourself?”

“Uh...well, I guess I can trust you with that, right? It is your job, after all...anyway, he has a military background, so if you could incorporate that in somehow...and he really likes lilies.”

“This is going to be so much fun.” The white-haired woman said with a wide smile.

Matt blushed again. “I’m glad you think so.”

 

Keith blinked at the form on the couch. It was Lance, hidden under a heavy blanket, sleeping, a bottle of whisky in his hand. Well, more like on the floor next to his hand. The cap was on, thankfully, probably due to Hunk’s intervention.

Sighing, Keith went over and shook his shoulder.

“Wha-”

“Hey, you hungry?”

“You woke me up to ask if I was hungry?”

“No. I woke you up because you drank half a bottle of hard liquor and I wanted to make sure you were still alive. You doing okay?”

Lance groaned and rolled over until he was facing the back of the couch. “Just leave me alone to suffer.” He moaned.

“Well, at least make some room so I can sit down.” He said, trying to force him out of the way.

Lance almost whimpered. “Have you no heart?” He said dramatically. “Your friend is in pain, and all you can do is shove him out of the way? How cruel can you get?”

“Lance, if you wanted to be drunk in peace, you should have asked Hunk to protect you. Come on, move.”

Reluctantly, Lance sat up, wrapping his blanket around himself. Keith sat next to him and pulled out his phone, plugging his headphones in so as not to disturb Lance while he watched Youtube.

After a while, Lance started to drift off, leaning against him, his chest rising and falling slowly. When he was sure that Lance was asleep, Keith allowed himself a small smile, slipping his arm around Lance’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. This had, of course, been his goal all along, but Lance didn’t have to know that.

Hunk returned to the dorm room at some point, rolled his eyes at the two boys on the couch, and then left again, telling Keith he would be at work if they needed him.

 

Lance woke to his phone ringing. He cracked an eye open and glared at it. He was back in his own bed – Hunk must have moved him after he fell asleep on the couch next to Keith.

He got out of bed and went to look in on him. He was asleep in his own bed, eyes closed, mouth slightly open so he wouldn’t snore, body moving gently as he breathed. Lance took a moment to just stare at Keith. He was so...everything.

Slowly, he remembered that he had woken due to a phone call. Taking out his phone, he saw an unknown number. No message had been left. He called them back.

“Hello? This is Allura of A and R Planning. How can I help you today?”

“A and R Planning?”

“Oh! It’s you! Sorry, I didn’t recognise the number. We...you gave me your number at the club yesterday.”

“Oh, I remember. So, Allura, huh? That’s a nice name. How’s your friend doing? She seemed pretty upset.”

The reply was curt, as if Allura was annoyed. “Oh, she’s doing just _fine_.”

“Are you...sure about that?”

She sighed. “Sorry, it’s just...her ex has been around here all day, and it looks like...wait a second...yep, she just said yes to another date with him.” She sighed again. “She is absolutely hopeless.”

Lance didn't know what to say to that. There was an awkward pause. “So...um...why did you call?”

“Oh, right. Yeah. I...don’t have anything to do tonight. Did you want to maybe...have dinner somewhere?”

“Sure thing. Just tell me where I’m going and when, and we’ll be all good.”

 

Keith’s heart sank as he heard the conversation. He knew it. Lance was only interested in girls, and would never want him, and would probably be disgusted if he learned that Keith had a crush on him.

_Why does my life have to be like this?_

When Lance finally left, Keith dragged himself from under the covers and sat under the spray of the shower for almost fifteen minutes.

“Keith!” Hunk shouted at him through the door. “Come on, man, you’re wasting water.”

He reluctantly turned the water off and got out, towelling himself off slowly. When he came out, Hunk wrapped him in a hug. “What happened?” He asked.

 _God bless whoever gave this world Hunk,_ Keith thought as he slowly returned the hug. “Lance is going on a date. With some girl he met at the club yesterday.”

“I’m sorry.” Hunk said, frowning.

“Ah, it’s whatever. It’s not like he’d actually be into me anyway.” He said, pulling away and slinking back into his room.

 

The only thing Allura could think about was how uninterested Lance seemed. The night had started out pleasant enough. He’d pulled back her chair for her, said all the right things, smiled at her and patiently listened to her talk, but his mood shifted after she started to talk about the club.

He started toying with his wine glass and looking down at his plate. _Actually, not disinterested...sad._

“You’re not into me at all, are you?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t like me. Like...as more than a friend.”

He winced. “Would you hate me if I said no?”

“No.” She sighed and pushed her food around on her plate. “So who is she?”

“Who?”

“The girl you’re sad about. It _is_ about a girl, isn’t it?”

“I...” His shoulders fell. “His name is Keith. He’s...really smart, and super good looking, but he’s always so moody, and I...I don’t even know if he likes me at all sometimes.” He sighed. “I should probably stop pining after him and move on, but...he’s been one of my best friends for years. My feelings for him grow with each passing month. How can I possibly move on when he’s around me all the time, just being...you know...”

Allura couldn’t hide her shock. “So...why are you flirting with all the girls that walk by you?”

“I’m trying to make him jealous.”

“By flirting with only girls? He probably thinks you’re straight. I know I thought you were.”

“Well, the thing is that...I kinda was. Before Keith, I’d never even looked twice at a guy. And since? No one. Just him. I think plenty of girls are cute, but...it’s just him.” He put his face into his hands. “Sometimes, I think something’s wrong with me. I mean, I just can’t get...excited about anyone else. I look at them, think they’re cute, and then just pass them by. But with Keith...it’s like I’m addicted.”

Allura looked around the restaurant until she found someone she thought was cute. “What do you think about him?” She asked, pointing.

Lance glanced over. “I...I guess he’s kinda cute? But Keith...he has this stupid mullet, black hair, big brown eyes...” His eyes glazed over, getting a dreamy look.

“You really are in deep, aren’t you?”

He came back to himself slowly. “Sorry. Are you done? I’ll pay, since this was so disappointing.”

“No, don’t worry. I can cover my share.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” She called the waiter over. “A separate cheque, please.”

 

Allura slipped her hand into his as they walked and, since it didn’t feel like a romantic thing, Lance didn’t pull away. She sighed up at the moon.

“It’s really pretty out here.”

“Yeah, it is.”

They walked on in silence for a while. “So how long have you liked him for?”

“About two years, I think. Actually...hang on...” His mind went back to when he’d realised just how he felt about his friend. They’d been in high school, preparing for the end of year dance. Lance had waited too long to find a date, and Keith had scared everyone away. There was a list of people who still didn’t have dates, and it was quickly dwindling.

Keith had come up to him one day with the list. “It’s just us.” He said.

“I guess we’re going together, then.”

Dancing at least one song had been mandatory so, while the rest of their friend group had snickered and jeered, Lance and Keith had negotiated which one would lead, and which would follow. Keith had ended up leading, after winning a round of ‘rock, paper, scissors’, and it had been then, with his arm draped around Keith’s shoulders, that he’d felt the stirring of something in his stomach, his heart racing. He’d blinked down at Keith, who had always been just slightly shorter than him, and felt...something.

“Almost three years now...”

“That’s...a really long time. Are you sure he doesn’t feel the same way?”

Lance shrugged. “I really don’t know. Maybe. I...I don’t really know what I’d do if he _was_ interested in me too. It’s not like I...I tried...”

“It’s alright, Lance. I really don’t mind what you have to say. I promise, I’ve heard it all before.”

His cheeks flushing felt even hotter in the cool night air. “Oh. Well, I tried watching gay porn, but it...did nothing. Actually, I felt kinda gross. Although, to be honest, all porn is kinda gross...”

“Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“I think we’re well beyond that stage, don’t you?”

“Fair enough.” Still, she paused. “Have you ever had sex? With anyone?”

“Yeah. Once. Before Keith. She was sixteen, I was fourteen. We...really shouldn’t have but...it wasn’t awful. She was pretty, and we were friends, and she just...wanted someone to love her. Her father sure didn’t. She had...” He shook his head. “Anyway, the sex...felt kind of...bland? I don’t really know how to describe it. I mean, I _did_ love her, but not...like that.”

“So you don’t really know how it feels to be in love with the person you’re having sex with?”

“I guess not. Why? Does it matter?”

“Oh yes. If you love them, and they love you, it stops being about the sex, and becomes about the other person. All your worries will melt away, because they’ll take care of you, and you’ll take care of them.” She stopped walking and pulled Lance around until he was facing her. “I think the best thing you could do is tell him how you feel. I know it’s scary, but if he feels the same way about you, you’ll have something truly special. And if not...then you’ve saved yourself the pain of not knowing. It might hurt a lot now, but it’ll ease the pain that would come later.”

He sighed. “Alright. My friend and his partner have an anniversary coming up, and I just know Matt has been planning something. I’ll tell him then.”

“Matt?” Allura asked with surprise. “Matt Holt?”

 

Lance came back late, a goofy grin on his face. It only served to darken Keith’s mood even further.

“Have fun?”

“Oh yeah. I have something _awesome_ planned for Matt and Shiro’s anniversary. Thought of it on the way home. Just you wait; you’re going to love it.”

“I’m sure.” Keith said drily, taking his computer to his room.

He heard Lance singing to himself as he showered, making quick work of cleaning himself. As he made his way to bed, he poked his head into Keith’s room. “Goodnight, Keith.” He sang and blew him a kiss.

Keith refused to acknowledge just how red his cheeks got from that move.

 

ONE WEEK LATER

“GUYS!” Hunk shouted at the top of his lungs, causing everyone to flinch awake.

Pidge, Lance, Keith and Allura – the newest addition to their band of friends – had all fallen asleep on their living room floor after a last-minute post-exam celebration.

Lance groaned and rubbed at his eyes. “What?”

“Look at this!” He held up a thick black envelope, then opened it and read it so everyone could know what he was excited about. “’Matt and Shiro are delighted to ask your attendance to their five year dating anniversary party. Please wear formal attire in black and white.’ Oh! It’s happening! And it’s for Thursday next week! We’re going to have to cancel our classes! We’re going to have to rent suits! We’re going to have to – oh! This is so exciting! I’m going to bake a cake!”

As everyone else lay back down, Hunk ran into the kitchen and started pulling out bowls and ingredients.

 

Allura waited for Lance to finish changing into his suit, Keith by her side.

“So, are you excited?”

Keith just sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I know Lance is excited and, even though I’m not invited, so am I! Anniversaries are always fun, don’t you think? Say, how long have you and Lance known each other?”

“Almost fifteen years now.”

“Wow! That’s so...so you know him well?”

Keith scowled. “Look, I’m not interested in divulging his secrets, okay? If you want to get to know him better, go on a date.” He got up and stormed to the other side of the store.

Allura put on a shocked face for all of three seconds before smiling to herself.

_Oh yeah, he definitely likes him back._

 

With only a few days until the party, everyone was in a flurry. Lance was obsessed with whatever it was he was going to do for the couple, Hunk was busy making sure everyone else was ready, Pidge was stuck deciding whether to wear a suit or a dress, Allura was busy fawning over how good everyone looked in their outfits, and Keith…

Keith was busy scowling at anyone who tried to make eye contact.

Tailors got nervous around him, his friends sighed and shook their heads, and Allura...seemed pretty pleased about his attitude, actually. It confused Keith to no end. Usually, Lance’s girlfriends got the hint and moved on before they even really settled, but not Allura. She would sit on Lance’s lap and drape her arm over his shoulders, talking and laughing, whispering things in his ear.

Lance seemed to be a lot more comfortable around Allura than all his previous girlfriends, too. With was strange, because Keith never saw them kiss once. They held hands, cuddled and did all the other things boyfriends and girlfriends did together, but their lips never touched. Keith supposed he should be happy about that, but it just put him on edge. Something was happening, and he would find out what it was.

 

“Hey Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you come to get fitted with me? I know you’ve already got yours, but...I don’t really know what to look for.”

Allura shot Lance a quick thumbs-up behind Keith’s back, nodding furiously. She kept insisting that Keith was indeed jealous of them being together, but Lance just didn’t see it.

“Yeah, of course. Want you looking sharp for the celebration.”

When they got about halfway there, Keith turned into a carpark and locked the doors. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Lance asked, surprised and a little afraid with Keith’s sudden intensity.

“With Allura. You haven’t kissed her at all.”

“That you can see.”

“ _Have_ you kissed her?”

Lance lapsed into silence, unsure how best to answer that. He decided to go with the truth. After all, the plan could be changed. “No.”

“So what are you up to?”

 _Okay, looks like the plan’s aborted completely._ Lance shut his eyes and let out the breath he’d been holding. “I was going to make a speech on Thursday, talking about how much Matt and Shiro loved each other. Then I was going to say that that was how I feel...about you.”

He didn’t dare look for a few moments, which felt like minutes, but were probably just seconds. When he finally did open his eyes, he saw Keith staring at him in shock.

“Are you...okay?”

Keith didn’t say anything.

“Keith?”

Keith was still as a statue, barely even blinking.

“Oh God. Keith? You okay? Buddy? Hello?”

Finally, Keith snapped out of it. “How long?” He asked, his voice hoarse.

“Uh...like...three years?”

Keith seemed to regress back into shock, but Lance pulled him out of it by gripping his forearms. “Why didn’t you...why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Well, at first, it was because I wasn’t sure what I was feeling was even _real_ , then because I...I was scared of what you’d think. Then I was scared you wouldn’t like me back.”

“But...all those girls...”

Lance chuckled softly, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “Heh. Yeah. Um...never really into them. After that dance, there was only you.”

Keith blinked at him, then said the most amazing thing in the universe. “For me, too.”

 

“You two certainly look happy.” Allura said, wriggling her eyebrows at them as they came through the door. “And...weren’t you going out to get fitted for a suit?”

Hunk poked his head through the doorway of the kitchen, where he practically lived now. “Aw, come on, Keith! You need to get fitted before tomorrow, otherwise it won’t be ready on time!”

“I _did_ get fitted. They just had to make a few adjustments.” He linked his hand with Lance’s, and Hunk let out a joyous cry.

“Finally! Oh, do you know how _long_ I’ve had to keep this a secret! You’re finally, _finally_ together. Oh my God! Wait, I need to tell Pidge! And Shiro! And Matt! Everyone’s going to be so excited!”

Lance looked at Keith with a huge, dopey grin. “Well, I guess that takes care of that problem. Everyone we know will know about us within the next half hour.”

Keith smiled back. _Damn, he really_ is _cute._ Allura thought with a sigh. “I’m totally fine with that.”

 

Matt was nervous. Of course he was nervous. He was in the back room with Romelle and Allura, who were fussing over his hair and his suit, and his make-up – just a light dusting of foundation and blush to make you really pop, Allura had said.

They twittered together as they made the final touches to the venue, arranging flowers and laying out the navy blue tablecloth with the embroidered army logo.

“Okay.” Allura said, stepping back. “That should be everything. Anything else you want, Matt?”

He took a deep breath. “No. Everything’s perfect.” After a slight hesitation, he gave them both a hug. “Thank you so much. Your passion for this event has really made everything better.”

He was feeling nervous for a good reason. Two years previous, he’d proposed to Shiro. Not anywhere near as public – he’d made him dinner and held his hand, getting down on one knee, but Shiro had said no.

“I’m going away soon, and...Matt, I do love you, but this is the worst possible time. What happens if something happens to me on my placement? I don’t want you locked into this relationship if I get crippled or killed.”

“Don’t talk like that. You’re going to be fine.”

He hadn’t been, of course – his arm had been blown off, and he’d had to get used to doing everything one-handed. Matt had stayed by his side, and hoped that Shiro knew that no matter what, he would always be by his side.

He was only doing this publicly because he was sure Shiro would say yes this time. He’d talked to him about it a few months ago, and he had some idea of what was going to happen today, but not exactly.

As the minutes passed, he heard people entering, the clamour growing with the crowd. He swallowed, trying to calm his nerves. Then, Shiro poked his head into the back room.

“Hey,” he said soothingly, “Lance told me to check back here for you. You holding up alright?”

“Yeah. Just...I love you.”

“I love you, too.” They kissed, and Matt felt like he was going to drift away. He gripped Shiro’s shoulders and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to exist in this moment for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, time moved, and Shiro pulled away. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

They walked out into the main room holding hands. Everyone quieted and looked up at them. Lance took the stage beside them before anyone could protest.

“Matt, Shiro, you guys...are two of the best friends anyone could ask for. I know everyone here loves you, but not as much as you love each other.” It seemed like he had more that he wanted to say, but he was so close to crying, he just handed the microphone over to Matt.

Everyone chuckled at the display while Keith took his arm and led him away.

“Right. Thank you, Lance.” Matt took a deep breath. “Shiro, I...it’s been...I’m never happier than when I’m with you. We’ve spent five years together, and they’ve been the best years of my life. Two years ago, I asked you to marry me. For my own sake, you turned me down. But I’m asking you again. Because there really is no one I would rather be with.” He put the microphone down and started to descend onto one knee, but Shiro stopped him, sweeping him off his feet in a strong, one-armed hug.

“Of course I will, Matt.”

 

After all the celebrations, Lance and Keith were exhausted. Hunk drove them back, trying his best to stay quiet, but failing as he talked to Pidge excitedly about the wedding that was going to take place just months from then.

In the back of the car, Lance laced his fingers together with Keith’s. Keith smiled softly and turned his head so he could kiss him.

“You’ve gotta be the one to catch the bouquet, alright?” Lance told him softly. “So it won’t take five years for us to get married.”

Keith laughed softly, kissing him again. “You’ve got it.”


End file.
